Footsteps
by primadea
Summary: Part of the "Her Mate" Universe. Sarah, a human warrior on the Yautja home world, learns her place in a world she believed she was accustomed to. A Warrior in her own right and Mate to a very powerful Male. Where once she believed she was the only one in charge of her destiny, it soon becomes clear just how wrong she was.


Sarah was in the middle of training, she had been away from her mother and Daax for a very long time, too long really, so long she sometimes forgot about them. Not completely mind you, just got busy doing so many different things they simply slipped her mind.

She had seen Daax a few times since he had brought her back last time. He sometimes came to train some more advanced Yautja. He would always take the time to come and see her, talk to her, to her trainers, see how she was advancing. As the only female in her group, and human to boot, they did not expect much, originally, but now, after having seen her in action, there was much more pressure and she was expected to perform just as well as the others. Maybe even better in certain aspects.

She had learned how to fight, hand to hand, and though her co-classmen were stronger and heavier, she was much quicker and nimble. Trying to catch her or hit her in hand to hand was a challenge, and she knew it.

They had also taught her how to use weapons, most of those were too heavy and bulky for her, but a few were easy enough to use, knives, a few guns, some had been created just for her, using basic human weaponry and tweaking it for use by a Yautja warrior. She was well equipped.

The hardest thing to get used to had been the mask, hers was easy enough to use, change vision settings, get coordinates, so many things to learn, but it was bulky and heavy, and she preferred fighting and working without it.

Sarah was now being prepared for Chiva. It was still a few weeks away. Calculating quickly, she realized that she had been there, training for about seven maybe eight years. Could it really have been that long? She had last seen her mother when the previous class had gone to Chiva, that had been over six months ago, and though she missed her, and her siblings, all six of them, she much preferred to be here, surrounded by comrades and learning to fight.

She bowed to her trainer, before heading to the barracks, sleeping, eating and living with hundreds of Yautja had taken some getting used to, most were nice, being protective and very friendly when off the training ground. But some, some were outwardly aggressive and sometimes got physical. She was human, a female, and she had no place being there with them.

The only true problem she had gone through was when her menstrual cycle had started, maybe six or seven earth years ago. Her fellow students and trainers had been all over her, smelling her, getting very close, to close. And it had been scary. The scariest she had ever been, truly.

She had been sent home for a few months, until her body adjusted, her cycle stabilized, and then they had given her a shot, which she repeated once monthly, half way trough her cycle. She wasn't sure what it did, but the Yautja around her seemed less interested in her, in that way, and she was OK with that.

She wasn't ready and/or willing to find a mate yet. It wasn't in her plans, even though she knew Daax had already made deals, had already talked it out with the Elders, she knew it was still HER choice. She could accept or refuse any Yautja she chose. But for now, she was too young, she was unblooded, and she simply was not interested in that.

Sarah headed for the dormitory, grabbed her kit and headed to the communal showers. She undressed, unashamed, and stepped under the hot spray. The two water sprays on either side of her were empty, for now, but she knew soon they would be occupied. Sarah rarely had the luxury of showering alone. She knew the males simply wanted to look at her, and though it should have creeped her out, it didn't, it truly was of no consequence to her.

She washed herself, taking a mental inventory of her scars, and my did she have scars. Small ones, long ones. She even had one in her face, though she hadn't seen it since the day she had received it. She had seen the med tech work on it, a scar staring right over her left eyes and working its way straight down to the right corner of her lip. It had been a circular blade, from a gauntlet, She had ducked to slow, had she been wearing her mask she would have been fine, alas, she hated her mask. She didn't mind, they all had scars. And looking fierce as a female, and specially a human, was something very useful.

Her mother had cried when she had seen her afterwards, and since then Sarah refused to look in mirrors, any mirror. She was a Warrior, and her looks were not important to her. Her strength, speed, cunning and mastery of her weapons, THAT was important. Everything else was secondary.

The door opened and a VERY large Warrior walked, no, strutted in. He was huge, even compared to Daax, he wore many shiny beads in his dreads, his colouring was exquisite, dark almost black, with a blue hue, dark green and some light yellow blotches. Sarah was sure she had never seen him before, she would have remembered.

He nodded to her, then took the shower next to her, growling at the next incoming Yautja to find himself another spot to wash. Something she had not experienced since her first cycle. This was the attention she had hated. The aggressive possessiveness from al the males; but from him, from him it was surprisingly welcome. They finished washing and he motioned to the baths with a movement of his head, his neck and back muscles moving beautifully. She shrugged, wanting to look unimpressed, and followed him to the baths.

The water was steaming, and she followed the large Warrior to a basin far away from the already used baths. He seemed to want to keep her away from everyone else. He was silent, made no sound as he moved and didn't speak. She didn't mind that. In fact it gave her more concentration power to appreciate the way he moved, like a large cat, every muscle moving in a way to reduce energy usage, but give best out put. He was a beast, and she was enjoying the show he was giving her. Who knew her interest could be so easily peaked.

He splashed in first, then holding out his hand, helped her in. Usually, this would have annoyed her, but today, she held her tongue stepped in the tub, her hand in his much larger one and looked at the water, hoping the heat she felt coming up her cheeks would not be noticed by the stranger. She sat next to him, not to close so as not to touch him, but not to far away so he could take a closer look. This way he would have to cram his neck to the side to look at her. Which, he was doing right now.

He studied her, patiently, noticing a fierce blush blooming from her upper chest all the way to her hair line. He had been studying her now for a few years, watching her grow, learn, practice and become a strong feared warrior, though she was much smaller then her counterparts, and much weaker, these were not negative traits for her, in fact, they were bonuses. She was quick, very quick, and so nimble and flexible. He had not seen anything like it, it occurred to him that she likened a panther, a feline animal from her home world. Fast, hard to catch and most often deadly. She was the same, now all he had to do was catch her.

Guan H'Dlak had already spoken to Daax, they had made arrangements, as long as Sarah accepted him, he would become her mate. The larger part of the agreement was having to let her choose, choose him, choose him as her mate. And that was why he was there now. To speak to her, to let her know him, accept him. Want him. She was still very young, a mere child, but he knew if he waited any longer, she would slip through his fingers and that was simply not acceptable.


End file.
